Into the Ashes
by bubblegum-buddy
Summary: Ace and Spade are the best of friends, even going so far as to transfer to Duel Academy together. New friendships are made, but they will be tested as a sinister cult known as the Order of the Ashes wreaks havoc on the dueling world. Will they survive?
1. Intro Phase

**'Ello! Welcome to a collab fic between myself and my best friend, Guardian Soul. Go look at her work because it's amazing - as you'll see in this chapter :) We alrernate between chapters. Also, you'll notice we follow the dub, so those names will be used, as well as having zero knowledge of the fourth season- which depresses us greatly.**

**Disclaimer: Guardian Soul and Winter Poison do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. If we did, the dub would have gone up to the fourth season.**

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"Come on, Sy!" Jaden said, tugging on his friend's arm as he tried to pull the shorter teen into the gym. Duel Academy was celebrating its tenth birthday that year, and to commemorate this occasion Chancellor Sheppard had organized a dance for the students. Since the moment Jaden Yuki had heard about the event he had not stopped talking about it, which would have been a nice reprieve from his constant dueling tirades had he not insisted on Syrus joining in the festivities.

"Jaden!" Syrus whined. He attempted to pull away from the brunette's grasp, but Jaden was stronger and much more determined.

"Syrus, really, you're going to a _dance_, not the electric chair," Jaden told him.

"There's a difference?" groaned Syrus.

"Big one," Jaden said. "Like, dances are fun and electrics chairs…aren't. You'll have fun, okay? A lot more fun if you actually go in instead of listening to the music out here."

Jaden swung himself around so that he was behind Syrus and started to push his friend forward, which turned out to be no more successful than pulling him. The blue-haired boy had a stubborn hold on the ground where he stood. He was bracing his body against Jaden, tensing each of his muscles in a desperate attempt to save himself for the humiliation that he was sure awaited him at his first-ever school dance.

"Jaden, why don't you just go yourself?" Syrus suggested meekly.

"Because it's no fun to go myself," Jaden stated matter-of-factly. "What are you so worried about, anyway? What's the worst that could happen?"

"The worst?" Syrus asked. "Um, that would be that I'm left sitting alone in a corner, with no one to talk to because everyone else who can dance and make conversation and have fun are off having a good time."

"Aw, come on! Like I'd let that happen!"

"Well…"

"Okay," Jaden cut him off. "You want to take a dare?"

"Um…Not really."

"Will you at least listen to it?" asked Jaden. Syrus cautiously glanced at the dueling prodigy, worried by the smile playing over Jaden's features. "Go in there and ask the very first girl you see to dance. You do that, and you can dare me to do anything you want, okay?"

Syrus was silent, considering this proposition. Jaden was practically bouncing due to the mixture of excitement and anticipation coursing through his body. He nudged Syrus's shoulder, urging him to answer. Syrus bit his lower lip and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Fine," he said finally. "Fine, let's go."

"Yes!" Jaden cheered, throwing his fist in the air. "You won't be sorry!"

* * *

The DJ's music pounded even through the walls of the ladies' room, the beat vibrating up the walls and across the floor. When it reached Lacey's legs it continued to rattle up them, slowly filling her body with the rhythm of the latest hip hop tunes. At any other time she might have found this cool. Currently, though, she was just trying to apply some eyeliner without drawing all over her face.

"I still don't know why you dragged me here," Lacey's friend, Spade, said. She was leaning against a sink beside Lacey, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh, I don't know," Lacey replied. "Maybe because it's a dance, and typically teenage girls go to dances to do things like dance, frolic, and enjoy themselves all while listening to insanely loud music that parents and teachers disapprove of and spending time with friends?"

"We're going to frolic?" Spade inquired, a delicate eyebrow raised in question.

"Among other things." Lacey slammed her eyeliner pencil onto the sink's lip, a frustrated sigh slipping past her lips. "That's it. I can't win."

"Does that mean we can go?" Spade asked hopefully, dropping her arms to her sides as she launched herself off of the sink she'd been leaning on.

"Nope," Lacey replied, and the sound that came from the other girl made it seem as though all of her lifelong hopes and dreams had been crushed by that simple word. "It just means I can't apply eyeliner when the floor is moving. Besides, you promised me we'd stay for an hour and you still have approximately twenty minutes until we leave."

Spade glanced at her watch, which she had insisted on wearing, despite her friend's protested, the minute Lacey had told her they would only stay an hour. "Actually, it's twenty-four minutes and fifteen seconds."

"Even better," Lacey said, her brown eyes lighting when she smiled. Spade shook her hand and raked her fingers through her snowy hair.

"Have I told you lately that I hate you?" she asked. Lacey slid her eyeliner back into her purse and glanced up at her friend.

"Only every ten minutes since we got here."

"Oh," Spade said, and then she added, "Well, I hate you."

"I love you too, hun," Lacey said as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "Now, let's go!"

She linked arms with her friend, her smile growing across her face as she led the other girl out of the bathroom and into the hall. As they made their way back into the gym, Spade glanced down at her watch again. Twenty-three minutes and forty-two seconds.

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The gym, usually only made useful for physical education classes, had been decorated with streamers and glitter and a huge 'Happy Birthday Duel Academy' banner along the back wall. When he walked inside, Syrus stayed close by Jaden with his eyes closed, letting the sound of his friend's footsteps guide them into the gym. When they got further into the gym, however, Jaden's footsteps faded into the mesh of girl's heels clicking on the floor and the laughter and shouting of various teens and the throbbing music coming from the DJ across the room. Because of all these noises melding together in his ears, Syrus was not able to hear Jaden suddenly stop walking. This caused the blue-haired teen to slam right into his friend. Jaden gasped, throwing his arms to stop himself from falling.

"Woah, Sy," Jaden said, turning around to find Syrus with eyes still closed. "Okay, that bet we made? Hard to ask the first girl to see to dance if you can't see _anyone_."

"Aww," Syrus muttered, defeated. "There goes that plan."

"Just open your eyes, okay? And then first girl you see, you ask to dance. That's all you have to do," Jaden instructed. Syrus sighed, the knowledge that he had already bound himself to this ridiculous dare the only thing running over and over again through his head.

_You can do this,_ he thought. He kept repeating that as he drew in a breath and slowly opened his eyes.

"Uh…Jaden? There's a problem."

"What's that?" Jaden asked, looking back at his friend. Syrus pointed ahead of him and Jaden followed his gaze, his eyes landing on a pair of girls just walking into the gym from the hallway, their arms linked together.

"There's two of them."

"Sweet!" Jaden exclaimed, his trademark grin working its way to his eyes. "I'll ask one, you ask the other."

"Uh, sure," replied Syrus. He clasped his hands together, twiddling his thumb as he followed Jaden towards the pair of blondes. They were both the same height, one wearing a red dress and the other a white button down shirt and dress pants. The first was walking in strappy black heels while the other had casual converse sneakers.

"Hi!" Jaden greeted, waving as he approached the girls. The one in red smiled, nudging her friend.

"Hi there," she replied.

"I'm Jaden," the brunette introduced, and then he pushed his small friend forward. "This is Syrus."

Syrus gave a timid smile and a wave. The girls smiled at them as they released each other arms.

"I'm Lacey," the first said.

"And I'm Spade," said the second. "It's nice to meet you guys."

"You, too!" Jaden said. He nudged Syrus's arm with his elbow, causing the smaller boy to gasp.

"Oh," he squeaked, glancing rapidly between Jaden, Lacey and Spade. "Um, I…I,uh…Well, we…"

"Yes?" Spade urged, her head tilted to the side. Her short hair, when it grazed against her shoulder, almost matched her shirt in color.

"Uh, well, I- I mean, we just…We were wondering if…If you guys…Do you want to dance?" he stammered. Lacey giggled, her hand fluttered up to her mouth as if she could catch the sound. Spade's eyes went wide with panic, watching as her friend then reached over to take Syrus's arm.

"Sure," she said. "We'll dance with you guys."

"We will?" Spade blurted. Lacey started to lead Syrus towards the dance floor, looking back over her shoulder to talk with Spade.

"Of course we will, Spade, you've gotta have some fun. One dance won't kill you!"

"That's what _you_ think!" Spade exclaimed.

"Come on," Jaden laughed. "She's right. Just one dance?"

Spade thought for a moment, watching as Lacey quickly found the rhythm to sway her hips to, Syrus standing beside her and trying to figure out how to move his body without looking like a fool. She looked back at Jaden, her blue eyes narrowing slightly.

"One," she cautioned, holding up her index finger. Jaden nodded and walked towards their friends, Spade following reluctantly behind him. Jaden, although not as smooth a dancer as others in the gym, seemed to find dancing among his many talents. Spade glanced at the three other people around her, then at the crowd of teenager bouncing to the music. She sighed and tapped her foot against the floor, moving her hands and arms around just to humor everybody.

"Hey, Ace?" she shouted over the music, but before Lacey had a chance to respond Jaden had grabbed Spade's hand, spinning her around in a circle. "Ack! What are you doing?"

"Dancing!" Jaden said. Spade groaned as Jaden spun her again in another flailing, far-from-graceful turn.

"Ace?" Spade said again the moment Jaden released her.

"I know, I know," Lacey said. "You hate me."

"At least you know it," sighed Spade. Lacey shook her head and she continued to dance.

"Um," Syrus hummed just loud enough for her to hear.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Should I, um…Am I supposed to…spin you, or something?" he asked timidly. Lacey smiled, offering him her hand.

"You can if you want," she said. Syrus took her hand, hoping she didn't notice that his was trembling ever so slightly.

"Um…I don't really know how to do this….I, uh, never really danced before," he explained nervously.

"It's cool," she said. She lifted his arm, their fingers still intertwined, and ducked under it, twirling a bit as she arrived at his other side. "It just goes like that."

"Oh," Syrus said, smiling. He spun her back the other way, grinning wide when she smiled.

"There you go!" she encouraged. Jaden took Spade's hand again, tugging her towards him and spinning her again.

"Oh, God," she groaned as Jaden made them turn in a circle together. That was when Spade bumped into another girl. She stumbled backwards, tightening her grip on Jaden's hand so she didn't fall. "Sorry," Spade mumbled. The girl turned, brushing her long her over her shoulder.

"Oh, don't worry about it," she said. She smoothed out her green dress as she smiled at Spade. Then her golden gaze turned to Jaden, her eyebrows knitting together in an expression of confusion. "Jaden?"

"Hey, Alexis!" Jaden said cheerfully. He dropped Spade's hand and rubbed the back of his neck a little nervously.

"Hi," she said slowly.

"Uh, this is Spade," Jaden said, pointing to the girl in question. "And that's Lacey," he continued, noticing that Lacey and Syrus had apparently seen the awkward exchange between himself and Alexis and had come to stand by them.

"Hi," Alexis said, looking over each of the girls.

"We're transfers," Lacey explained.

"Oh, I see," Alexis said and her smile returned to her lips.

"Transfers?" Jaden asked. "So that means you're in Slifer?"

"Hence the red," said Lacey, tugging at her skirt.

"She likes to show dorm pride," Spade added. Then she noticed that the last beats of the song were fading into the background and she threw her hands the air triumphantly. "Thank you, Jesus!" she exclaimed. "My one dance is over. Let's go find a table and sit."

"Fine, a deal's a deal," Lacey replied. "I need to get these shoes off anyway."

"You guys can come to my table," Alexis suggested. "My friends are off dancing anyway, so I doubt anyone will be there."

"You're sure that's okay?" Spade asked. Alexis nodded her head.

"Sure, come on!" She lead the way to a table in the far corner of the gym, far enough away from the music that you could talk below a yell and have your friends still be able to hear you. Jaden and Syrus plopped down in seats beside each other, Lacey and Spade taking to the two seats opposite them. Alexis settled in the middle of the group. Lacey leaned over, slipping off her shoes and shoving them underneath her seat.

"Ahh, much better," she said.

"I don't understand why you insisted on wearing those," Spade told her. "You knew you were going to take them off, anyway."

"They're cute," Lacey protested. "You cannot deny me cute shoes!"

A hand slammed suddenly on the table, causing everyone to jump. They all turned to see a new boy standing behind Alexis, one hand resting on the back of her chair, the other flat against the tabletop. He flashed a white smile to the group and slipped into an empty seat between Alexis and Lacey.

"Hey," he said as he brushed his dark bangs away from his eyes.

"Hi," Jaden said. Syrus, Lacey and Spade just waved while Alexis leaned back in her seat, giving this new boy a strange kind of sideways glance.

"Didn't you drag Zane here or something?" she inquired. The boy shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, why?"

"Where is he?"

"Oh, he's off being a boring wallflower somewhere," he replied. Alexis shook her head, propping her elbow on the table and holding her head in her hand.

"It seems like we all have a friend like that," Lacey laughed, giving a discreet glance in Spade's direction. Spade whacked her arm playfully.

"Hey, I may be a wallflower, but I am anything but boring!" Lacey held up her hands in defense.

"Okay, fine! You're my not-boring-wallflower-friend," she corrected.

"Thank you," Spade said. The boy raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Um, you guys are…?"

"Oh, sorry," Alexis said. "Guys, this is my brother, Atticus. Atticus, this is Lacey and Spade."

Atticus seemed like he was about to say something to the girls, or perhaps even offer his hand for them to shake, but he was quickly distracted by the familiar opening strains of a classic song drifting from the DJ's speakers.

"Finally!" he shouted. Alexis started shaking her head, covering her eyes with one hand.

"Oh no, please don't," she begged, but her brother was already lost in the song.

"_Summer lovin', had me a blast_!" Lacey perked up, recognizing the lyrics. Spade saw that familiar gleam in her friend's eyes and shook her head as well.

"Lacey…"

"_Summer lovin', happened so fast_!"

"_I met a girl, crazy for me_!"

"_Met a boy, cute as can be_!"

"Atticus, please stop," Alexis pleaded, grabbing her brother's arm.

"Lacey, you can't sing," Spade chided. The two were, however, evidently inside their own world in which their voices sounded good compared to those of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

"_Summer days, driftin' away, to uh-oh those summer nights_!"

"You like Grease?" Atticus asked.

"Love it," Lacey replied.

"Hmmm," he hummed, tapping his index finger to his chin as he thought. "Hairspray?"

"The Broadway show was infinitely better than the movies."

"West Side Story?"

"Can't live without it."

"Guys and Dolls?"

"You're Rocking the Boat gets stuck in my head constantly." Atticus smiled.

"What was your name again?" he asked.

"Lacey," she replied. "You can call me Ace."

"Ace," he repeated, feeling the word on his tongue. "I like it."

The music pounded in their ears, causing the two to abandon their conversation in favor of the song.

"_She swam by me, she got a cramp_," Atticus sang.

"_He ran by me, got my suit damp_," Lacey continued.

"_I saved her life, she nearly drowned_!"

"_He showed off, splashing around_! _Summer sun, something's begun, but uh-oh those summer nights_!"

Spade glanced mischievously over at the pair of off-key singers, a sly smirk playing over her lips. She couldn't stop these two from singing an awful rendition of the classic Grease song, but she could certainly derail their performance a bit.

"UH WELL-A, WELL-A, WELL-A, UH!" she shouted as loud as she could, her voice carry over the recording. "Tell me more, tell me more, was it love at first sight? Tell me more, tell me more, did she put up a fight?"

Lacey turned her head slowly to face Spade. The blonde grinned, waving sweetly to her friend as she leaned back in her chair. She glanced down at her watch, her eyes going wide when she saw the digital numbers blinking up at her.

"Well, now that I have your attention," she said, holding up her arm and tapping the face of the watch, "I can tell you that we've now been here fifteen minutes longer than you promised, and we can leave now."

"Party pooper," Lacey said with a pout.

"Hey, you promised." Lacey leaned down, grabbing her heels by their straps. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she stood up, Spade excitedly following suit.

"Well, it's been fun, you guys," Lacey said.

"Yeah, yeah, lots of fun," Spade said, waving to the small group. "Let's go, Ace."

"Wait," Jaden said. "We're in Slifer, too." He motioned to himself and Syrus. "We can walk you back to the dorms."

"You sure?" Lacey said. "We don't want to cut your night short or anything."

"Nah, it's fine," Jaden said. The girls looked to Syrus, who eagerly nodded in agreement.

"Okay, sure, that sounds good," Lacey said.

"Can we go now?" Spade asked. Her words her rushed so much so that they all seemed to run together, and she was bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Please?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go. Bye Alexis! See ya, Atticus," Lacey said. Jaden and Syrus rose to their feet and said their goodbyes and the small group of four went towards the gymnasium doors, Spade hurrying in front of the other three.

"She really hates dances, doesn't she?" Jaden said.

"Oh yeah," replied Lacey.

"I completely understand it," said Syrus.

"Come on, don't tell me you didn't have any fun," Jaden said, bumping the teen's arm with his elbow. "You can't deny it."

"I can!" Spade called back.

"No one asked you!" Lacey said. Spade spun around, walking backwards and sticking her tongue out at her friend. Lacey was about to reciprocate the gesture when her friend suddenly tripped on a tiny rock in the path, her arms pinwheeling in a desperate attempt to catch herself. Lacey smiled when she came up to the fallen girl and offered her hand. Spade grabbed it tight and hung limply, forcing Lacey to heave her entire body weight up.

"Thanks," Spade said.

"Whatever." They came up to the Slifer dorms, finding most of the lights already out. Only a handful of other red-dorm stragglers were making their way back into their rooms. "Well, we're this way," Lacey said, pointing to the right.

"We're straight ahead," Jaden said.

"I guess we'll see you guys around?" Syrus asked.

"Definitely," the girls said in unison. They said their goodnights and headed their separate ways. The girls came to their door and Lacey rummaged through her bag, fishing for her key. Spade was hopping up and down beside her, impatient, but before Lacey would open they door she posed a question.

"Now, tell me the truth," she said. "Was tonight really that awful?"

Spade rolled her eyes, a long, melodramatic sigh breezing past her lips. "Fine, I'll humor you. It wasn't actually a totally, completely awful night."

"Thank you," Lacey said. She pushed open the door and allowed Spade to go in before her. "By the way, you owe me five bucks."

"I hate you, Ace."

"I love you too, Spade."

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**Well? Did you enjoy it? We certainly hope you did! Please let us know in a review! Once again, I'd like to mention that the credit to this chapter goes to Guardian Soul :)  
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**~Winty  
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	2. Breakfast Phase

**Hello again! Welcome back to Into the Ashes :'3 Oh! I forgot to mention in the last author's note (thank Guardian Soul for reminding me) that the timeline for this fic is slightly altered. Basically it's a rewrite of the show (aside from the obvious character inserts). Also, updates will become slower because of the evil life-sucking monster known as school. (shudders)  
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**Whelp, since GS wrote the last chapter, it was my turn to write for this one!**

**Disclaimer: If Guardian Soul and I owned GX, would we be writing fanfic? No, we would be sitting at the 4Kids headquaters with pitchforks, forcing them to dub the fourth season.**

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"GOOD MOOORNIIIING~" _Thwack! _"Ow! Ace, you bitch, that hurt!"

"So does you shouting in my eardrum at 7:00 AM."

Spade threw her roommate's pillow across the room. "Yeah, well, wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey~ It's the start of a fabulous new daaay~"

"Stop being optimistic. Besides," Lacey grumbled, slowly moving herself up off her nice, warm mattress and glaring at the girl on the top bunk, "aren't I the one who had to literally drag your sleeping bag around the room to get up whenever you slept over my house?"

Spade shifted her blue eyes to the side. "Maaaaaybe."

"I hate you," Lacey grumbled. She stumbled out of the bed and shook her head a little. "I have sex hair, don't I?"

"Yep." Spade crawled over to the ladder and began to descend as she answered.

"How bad?" Lacey asked, running through the closet for her clothes.

"20-dollar whore bad."

"Crap!" Lacey glanced at the time. "Spade, you blind bat, it says 8:00 AM, not 7!"

"Woah, does it really?" Spade nearly shouted. She jumped off the ladder and ran to the closet, nearly tripping herself in the process.

"No, I'm lying- Yes, really!" Lacey hastily pulled out her Silfer skirt and uniform, along with a black tank top to go under the shirt. As she quickly changed, she grumbled, "God, you can never trust the blind kid!"

"Hey! It's not my fault my vision is crap!" her companion shot back, squirming into the too-short (in her opinion, at least) skirt and throwing on a gray short-sleeved turtleneck. "Ugh, I hate these uniforms!" she moaned, throwing on the shirt.

"I know, Spade. You've been whining about them since we got here."

"And I shall _keep_ complaining!" the pale girl responded indignantly. "You want the bathroom first?"

"You go, you're faster," Lacey offered kindly.

"Because I don't sit there for forever doing my hair and putting on makeup?" Spade challenged playfully.

"Well if you're gonna be a butt I'm not letting you go at all," her friend threatened, much to the other's horror.

"No! Wait! I have hygienic neeeeeds!" Spade called as Lacey ran into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. "You bitch!"

"You love me~" Lacey called from the cramped room.

"Oh, that I could stop, it would make my life so much easier…"

When all matters of hygiene were tended to, the two girls left the room and walked (Spade skipped) to the Slifer cafeteria. It was small, but it was clean enough for Spade to be able to eat in there. She was very particular about certain things, much to Lacey's amusement.

"So, are you gonna straighten all the salt and pepper shakers on all the tables again?" the darker blonde asked her with a mischievous grin.

"No, just the ones on our table," Spade replied casually. "But I swear to God, they're all so crooked all the time!"

They stopped in their tracks when they heard a somewhat familiar voice call out, "Hey, it's you guys!" The two girls turned their heads in almost perfect unison to see the two boys from the dance last night, accompanied by a large, koala-like boy, and a boy dressed in all gray and spiky black hair.

"Hi!" Spade chirped. She leaned over and whispered in Lacey's ear, "I have no idea what their names are, help me."

Lacey sighed a bit and then looked back at the table and smiled brightly. "Hey, Jaden, Syrus," she responded politely. "Got room for two more?"

"Yeah, sure!" Jaden responded with a happy nod. Syrus waved shyly, still apparently not quite used to them. The one in gray just grunted, while the bear-like one moved a bit to make room for some extra chairs. "Oh, I almost forgot!" he exclaimed. He turned to the two other boys. "Guys, these two are Ace and Spade," he said, gesturing to each of them in turn. "And ladies, these two gentlemen are Chumley Huffington," he added, pointing at the bear-boy, "and Chazz Princeton, the world's biggest grouch," he finished, elaborately extending his arm at the one in gray.

"Shut up, Jaden," Chazz growled.

Spade snickered a bit, sitting across from Lacey. "So what classes do you guys have now?"

"Syrus here and I have Basic Dueling 101 in an hour," Jaden responded.

"I've got Traps and Spells with Crowler," Chumley groaned. "Sucks."

Chazz sniffed. "Advanced Summoning 102."

Spade's eyes widened. "Woah, how'd you get into that if you're in Slifer?"

"He used to be an Obelisk," Jaden explained while Chazz let his head fall against his chest at the mention of the Red Dorm. "But he transferred for a while. He actually came back pretty recently!"

"If I had known I was gonna be stuck in a dorm with _you two_, I wouldn't have left."

"Aw, cheer up, emo kid!" Lacey chided playfully, crossing her legs and grinning.

"Wha- Hey! I am not emo!" Chazz defended, clenching one hand into a fist, only causing Lacey to laugh in response. Spade mumbled something that sounded like, "Lace, you're gonna get your butt kicked," but no one was really paying attention.

"Aaaanyway," Jaden interrupted, leaning back and spreading his arms as if to keep them apart, "what'd you guys think of the dance last night? I don't know about you, but I had a blast!"

"It was f-fun," Syrus stammered, before rubbing the back of his head anxiously. "I guess." His eyes widened and he turned to the girls. "N-not to be any insult to you, of course, I mean, you guys are awesome, I-I mean-" He stopped as both girls began to laugh and Spade put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Dude, chill, it's fine," Spade told him, smiling. She shrugged. "It was okay I guess. I'm not really one for dances. But at least I got to wear pants!" she added, sounding triumphant and raising a fist in the air dramatically.

"Pants?" Jaden repeated. "What's so special about pants?"

"Because pants are _infinitely_ better than these hand towels this school calls a skirt!" Spade explained. "I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm really not a fan of an article of clothing that just barely covers my ass, _thankya_ very much~" The "thank you" was rushed and said at a low tone, but then gradually rose, as if she was singing. It was an odd manner of speaking, to say the least.

Syrus blinked. "Um…what…?"

"Forgive her, she babbles on and on and doesn't turn off," Lacey said, raising a hand to cover Spade's mouth, which only resulted in her getting bitten. "Ow! That hurt, you butt!"

"I do _not_ babb- … Wait. Never mind. I do. I take my bite back."

Lacey blinked, then promptly slapped her face with her palm. "Tell me why I am surprised. I've known you for years. How does something like this surprise me?"

"Because I've never tried to take a bite back?"

"…True."

Jaden coughed, somewhat uncomfortable by the strangeness of his new classmates. "So, Chazz, Chumley, why weren't you guys at the party last night?" he asked, trying to change the subject…and prevent more biting.

"Dude, they didn't have any grilled cheese at the party," Chumley responded.

"How would you know that? You weren't there," Syrus asked.

"I could smell it. No grilled cheese. At all."

The blue-haired boy sighed. "Sometimes I think you're more passionate about food then you are dueling."

"Fair enough," Jaden said, nodding and not questioning his friend's super food-smelling ability, as he didn't doubt it for a second. "Chazz?"

"Why would I want to go to a dumb party and be seen with some Slifer slackers?" the gray-clad one spat. "I'll pass."

"But…you're in Slifer too," Jaden responded.

"…Shut up, Jaden."

"Aw, come on, have a little dorm pride!" Lacey encouraged, patting her red skirt.

"Hey, wait, I just realized something," Spade interrupted.

"Uh-oh," Lacey responded, earning her a glare from Spade before the paler girl continued.

"Chazz, if you're in Slifer, how come you aren't wearing a uniform for it?"

"Because I'd like to keep my dignity. Or rather what's left of it."

"…Well, you sure sound like a ray of freaking sunshine."

"Hmph," was Chazz's intellectual response.

Spade rolled her eyes and glanced down at her watch. "Aw, crap, it's 8:46, we should get moving," she said to Lacey, tugging on her friend's arm. "Come oooonnnn," she urged about three seconds later when her friend refused to leap out of her chair as she did, in the manner of a rabbit on crack cocaine.

"All right, jeez, let me breathe first!" Lacey said, swatting at her friend. "I will slap you!"

Jaden grinned. "What do you guys have now?"

"Um…" Spade pulled a folded up piece of paper out of the tiny pocket the skirt provided and opened it. "Oh, what do you know? Basic Dueling 101!' She smiled. "Looks like we have class together!"

"Well, great! We'll go there with you! Right, Sy?"

His blue-haired friend blinked silver eyes, astonished. "Jaden? Are you sick? You want to be _on time_ to class?"

"Well, not really, but it'd be cool to hang with new classmates, right?"

"…I-I-" Syrus stammered dumbly.

"Does he do this often?" Spade asked the brown-and-orange-haired one.

"Only on Tuesdays."

"But it's Wednesday."

"Exactly."

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**~Winty  
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	3. Class Phase

**'Ello again! Thank you for so patiently waiting for this chapter :) This was written by the lovely Guardian Soul, so it's loads better than the last chapter. We hope you enjoy! :'D**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or any of its characters. If we did, Ace and Spade would be in it. Wreaking havoc. 'Til then, we have fanfic.**

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The scratching of pencils and pens against crisp notebook paper was echoing in Lacey's ears. She was trying her hardest to concentrate on her notes, but the teacher's monotonous drones accompanying whispers from classmates and the clicking of retractable pens was making her goal incredibly hard to reach. Keeping her eyes carefully trained on the professor, whose back was currently to the class as he scribbled something about the use of trap cards on the board, she slowly tore a piece of paper from her notebook.

'_Are you as bored as I am?_' she scrawled. She folded the looseleaf into quarters and slid it across the table. Spade jumped a little when the corner of the note poked her arm. She narrowed her eyes when Lacey mouthed 'read it'. Spade shook her head, but did as she was told. A smile crept over her features as she set the note down and started to lift her notebook, revealing that, instead of writing notes, she had been hard at work on a detailed sketch of a winged kuriboh.

"That's so cool!" Jaden said, his voice as much of a whisper as Jaden Yuki could possibly manage. He leaned over Lacey, reaching out to get a better look at Spade's drawing. Spade tried to suppress her laughter as she handed it to him.

"It's not really good," she whispered modestly, looking down at her hands. Lacey shook her hand, grabbing the paper she had given to Spade and writing something else on it before handing it to Jaden.

_'Ignore her, she's way more awesome than she gives herself credit for_.'

"What does that say?" Spade hissed.

"Nothing," Lacey replied with a shrug.

"Letmeseeit!" Spade said, her words rushed as she attempted to launch herself across the table to swipe the note from Jaden.

"Miss French." The professor's voice stopped her. Spade lowered herself back into her seat, a blush working its way up her cheeks. She sank down, gripping the edge of her table if only to keep herself from drifting all the way to the floor. Jaden and Lacey both found their eyes trained on the table, suddenly immensely interested in the smooth surface. Syrus, who had been sitting next to Spade and doing his best to ignore the scene beside him, watched on nervously as Spade forced eye-contact with the teacher.

"H-Hi," she said timidly, trying her hardest to muster a smile.

"Hello, Miss French," the teacher replied, clasping his hands behind his back as he came to stand before the girl's seat. "Miss French, I wonder, could you perhaps tell the class one of the three conditions in which your opponent loses a duel?"

"U-um, sure, uh, th-that would b-be…Uh," Spade stammered. The professor's eyes bored into her as she struggled for an answer. This should be obvious, shouldn't it? She bit her lip. "Uh, y-your opponent loses a duel….They lose when, um, when…When their life points go down?"

"More specifically?" the professor urged. Spade winced as though she'd been slapped, wracking her brain for the correct answer.

"U-um…Zero?"

"Thank you," the teacher said, nodding. Spade sunk further down in her seat when the snickers of Obelisks in the top row met her ears. The professor strolled along, though, looking over each of the students as he passed as if we were evaluating them. "Mr. Yuki?"

"Yes?" Jaden said, his eyes flicking up to meet the professor's.

"Can you tell us another one of the three conditions?"

"Easy," Jaden said, casually leaning back against his chair. "If your opponent can't draw cards."

"Good," the teacher said, lacking any kind of enthusiasm. In fact, he seemed a bit irked by Jaden's quick and easy answer. He gave all four of the Slifer friends one more glance over before crossing the room, choosing unsuspected victims in other rows. The minute he was gone Lacey slid her paper closer again and scribbled something on it. She watched the teacher, who was currently posing questions on a group of tired Ra boys, as she showed it to Spade.

'_Spade French…Toast?' _Spade took her pen and underlined the word toast. Lacey smiled to her friend before crumbling the paper in her fist, the crunch of the looseleaf lost at the sound of the bell.

"Thank God," she said, getting up and slinging the strap of her canvas bag over her shoulder.

"One more period of humiliation, over," Spade commented. Lacey laughed as she dropped their note into the wastebasket on the way out of the classroom.

"It wasn't that bad," she said.

"Yeah, we've definitely seen worse," said Jaden.

"Or experienced worse," groaned Syrus. Jaden shook his head.

"Point is, there have been worse moments," he said. Lacey nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what do we have now?" she asked Spade as an easy means of changing the subject. Spade swung her backpack off her shoulders and started fishing through it until she was able to produce a set of two schedules.

"Um…Oh, cool, we both have History of Dueling!" she said.

"History?" Lacey said, her eyes lit in excitement. "Yes!"

"You…_like_ history?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, history's awesome!" she exclaimed. Spade playfully slapped her with her papers before stuffing them back in her bag.

"Forgive her, she's a complete history geek," she exclaimed.

"Only ancient history," Lacey pouted. "And the Middle Ages. And, um, oh the Renaissance is cool! I wasn't too big on the Industrial Revolution, kind of dull, but the Roaring 20s was awesome! Oh, and the 80s were so cool. 60s were a little too trippy, and 70s were too, I don't know, groovy, I guess, but the 80s were-"

"Ace!" Spade cut her off.

"What?"

"Your nerdiness is showing."

"Dammit," Lacey cursed. She smiled sheepishly at the boys. "Sorry. I get carried away sometimes."

"We can tell," Syrus said.

"Yeah," Jaden agreed, drawing out the syllable. "But, Sy and I have that now too. And the classroom's right here!"

He led the small group into a classroom on the right. Most of the seats were already taken, students readying their books, searching for spare paper and trying to mooch pens off of their neighbors. Jaden spotted a group of four seats in the Slifer section and raced to them before anyone else could. As the settled into their seats, Lacey excitedly pulling out her textbook, notebook, pen and an array of colorful highlighters, Spade turned to Syrus.

"This teacher," she whispered, pointing to the man at the front of the room, "he's the head of Slifer, right?"

"Yeah," Syrus replied. Spade nodded, considering this.

"Um…What's his name?"

"Professor Banner," Syrus replied. "And the cat's name is Pharaoh."

"Cat?" Spade glanced over to the desk, noticing that Professor Banner was in fact stroking a plump brown cat that seemed to be making a comfortable bed out of his papers. "Aww, kitty!"

"Well, class," Banner began, rising from his seat, "let's begin."

And begin they did as the professor launched himself into a grand speech on the origins of the three Egyptian God Cards. He went as far as to plaster poorly drawn sketches of the monsters as they would be used in duels both ancient and modern, with a complete timeline from the monsters' first appearances to their last duels. Spade, ever the artist, was busying herself with a doodle of the Winged Dragon of Ra wearing a party hat and holding a balloon (when Syrus poked her arm and asked why, she explained that she felt the whimsical attire made this particular lesson a little more fun). Lacey was taking notes furiously, pausing now and then to use one of her highlighters to brighten her book. Syrus, aside from his brief conversation with Spade, was doing his best concentrate. Jaden was asleep within the first five minutes of the lecture.

The bell cut off the professor mid-sentence, causing him to jump in surprise. "Oh, look at that," he commented. "Time flies, doesn't it? Well, I expect you all to finish the text book section on Obelisk the Tormentor for tomorrow's class."

"Obelisk the Tormentor," Spade mused as she packed up her things. Her gaze wandered to the Obelisk section, which had almost completely emptied out the moment the bell sounded. "How fitting."

"That's cheery," Lacey said. She poked Jaden with a highlighter before slipping it into her bag. The touch caused him to jump nearly a foot out of his seat.

"E equals MC squared!" the brunette exclaimed.

"Good morning to you, too," Lacey said casually.

"Jaden," Syrus said, "you slept through class again."

"Aww," Jaden whined as he rose from his seat and started out of the classroom behind the group. "Can I borrow someone's notes?"

"Borrow Lacey's," Spade suggested. Jaden glanced to the girl, a small smile on his lips. She rolled her eyes and pulled her notebook out of her bag.

"Have it back by breakfast tomorrow," she said as she handed it over.

"Thanks!" Jaden said. He started flipping through the pages as they walked outside. He was greeted by tidy handwriting, fitting perfectly between the lines of the paper, interrupted only by highlighter ink which seemed to be color coded- yellow for dates, green for monsters, and blue for important events. "Uhhh…" He looked to Lacey, who simply shrugged in response.

"Told you she was a history geek," Spade told him.

"You weren't kidding," Jaden sighed. He tucked the book under his arm before he continued. "So, Sy and I have a free period now. You guys?"

"Same," said Spade.

"Cool," said Jaden. "So you guys wanna hang out?"

"Sure," said Lacey.

"Where?" Spade asked.

"Dorms?" Syrus suggested.

"Beach?" Lacey thought.

"How about right over there," Jaden said, pointing towards a small triangle of trees. "I see some people we know!"

Before anyone could object to the duelist's suggest he ran off towards the trees. Syrus was the first to take off after him, calling his name and trying to get the faster boy to slow down. Lacey and Spade glanced at each other before Lacey sprinted after the boys.

"Catch me if you can!" she teased.

"Lacey, you bitch!" Spade called after her, running to catch up. Lacey skidded abruptly to a stop when they reached the trees, narrowly avoiding bumping into Syrus. Spade, however, was not so lucky. She didn't notice her friend's sudden cease-motion, and therefore crashed full-speed into her, sending both blondes tumbling the ground.

"Ow!" Lacey squeaked, rolling quickly to catch Spade before she became one with the ground.

"Ace," Spade said, pushing herself onto her knees.

"Yeah?"

"You're a runner."

"So…?"

"So that means you're fast, you butthead!" Spade slapped her friend's arm, causing the other girl to whine overdramatically and scramble away from her.

"Um…hi, there?" an voice interrupted. Both girls glanced around, seeing a small gathering of other students, all seated around them.

"Oh, hey!" Lacey chirped. "Atticus, right?"

The boy smiled, reached out to shake her hand.

"Yep," he replied. "And you remember my sister."

He waved towards Alexis, Lacey and Spade both nodding in acknowledgement. They then noticed a black-haired boy in a Ra yellow jacket, his back supported by the tree farthest from them, completely engrossed in a notebook in which he was scribbling furiously.

"Um…" Spade hummed, tilting her head towards him.

"Oh!" Jaden exclaimed. "Bastion!"

The boy glanced up. "Yes?" he said with a prominent British accent.

"This is Lacey and Spade. Guys, this is Bastion."

"Howdy," Lacey greeted.

"Hi there!" said Spade. She pulled herself closer to him, leaning over to see what he was writing. She was met with a page full of neatly written numbers and mathematical symbols that flew right over her head. "Woah…"

"What is it?" Bastion asked. Spade glanced up at him briefly before returning to her gaze to his paper.

"Bastion's really good at math," Syrus explained.

"Yeah," Spade replied slowly. "I…I can see that."

"It's nothing special," Bastion said. Lacey leaned over, curious to see his work.

"Think again," she said. "That's amazing. You're, like, some kind of super-genius."

Spade nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she's right. Hey, do you think I could borrow your brain sometime?"

"Borrow my…brain?"

"Yeah, because numbers plus Spade equals catastrophe."

"Yep, that's about all the math we know," Lacey added.

"Well, I don't know about brain transplants," Bastion said. "But I suppose if you need help with homework sometime, I could lend a hand."

"Awesome!" Lacey and Spade exclaimed in unison. Others in the group soon jumped into the conversation, turning its path away from the excited adventures of math to who had what class next, and what homework assignments they would be ignoring that night in favor of watching a pick up duel between Jaden and Bastion that night.

Meanwhile, across the island, away from the idle chatter of the teens, a dark figure crawled out of the shadows. It glanced in either direction, a sinister smirk curling its lips as it slowly rose a hand. It snapped its fingers, causing a flock of nearby birds to fly away from the noise, a trail of smoke following them into the air.

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**Dun dun duuuun!**

**Well, we hope you enjoyed it! :'D Please let us know how we did in a review ^^**

**~Winty  
**


	4. Duel Phase

**Hello again! Thanks for reading :) This chapter was written by me and...It's not that great XD; I had massive writers block trying to finish this chapter, so it's not the best. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless though ^^;**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Duh.**

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"So then I said, 'Bosco, why'd you burn the house down?' And he looks at me and he goes, 'It was laughin' at me.' Ahaha! Can you believe that?"

"…Spade, this is why you weren't ever allowed to babysit anyone in a 3 mile radius after that for the next 5 years."

"But it makes _such_ great table talk!" Spade insisted, lightly slapping the wobbly table inside the Slifer dorm. The red light of the sunset seemed perfect for the underdog dorm, as the two newbies were so lovingly calling it.

"That…" Jaden said, blinking wide brown eyes as everyone else was, utterly astonished by Spade's horror story, "was probably the most awkward and terrifying story about babysitting I ever heard."

"_What_ did you say happened to his leg?" Chumley asked, his grilled cheese sandwich falling out of his hands.

"Oh, yeah, he-"

Syrus nearly jumped up in his seat, raising his arms as if to keep the conversation away from him. "No! Stop! I can't take anymore! Don't make me hear it again!" he interrupted, frantic.

Jaden coughed loudly. "Anyway…Let's say…Hey, Ace, Spade, either of you wanna duel me?" he asked suddenly, hoping both to change the subject and to see what these girls were made of as duelists.

"I'll do it!" Spade blurted out, pulling her neatly wrapped deck out of her pocket. How that was possible in a skirt that short has about as much of an answer as to how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

"Spade's a pretty good duelist," Lacey said encouragingly. "But I guess that comes from her being a total dweeb."

"I am not a total dweeb!" the white-haired girl protested, blue eyes narrowing in anger. "I just think the real world is boring!"

"…Dweeeeb~"

"..." Spade huffed, looking back at Jaden. "Do you have an extra duel disk? Lacey and I haven't gotten ours yet."

"You can probably borrow Sy's," Jaden offered for his blue-haired friend.

Said friend sighed and went to get the disk, muttering to himself, "'Hey, Syrus, can Spade borrow your duel disk?' 'Sure, Jay, here you go!' 'Thanks!'"

"Hey, you okay, buddy?" Jaden called after him. "Talking to yourself isn't good!"

Syrus audibly smacked himself in the forehead. "Ow, that's gonna leave a mark," he complained right after doing so. He rummaged through his backpack that he had left at the door and tossed it to Jaden. "You guys might wanna take this outside, Professor Banner doesn't like it when we duel indoors…and stuff breaks…'cause that's expensive…"

"Good idea," Chumley agreed, hastily grabbing his half-eaten sandwich and bolting out the door.

"Do you really need that with you to watch a duel?" Lacey asked, following him.

"Can't watch a duel without something to eat!" the koala-like boy responded with a cheerful grin.

Jaden and the others all chuckled before announcing loudly, "Hey, guys, me and Spade are gonna duel, who wants to watch?"

Silence.

"Uh…ooo-kay then…"

Spade shouted loudly as she was already in place a few feet away from the dorm. "Less advertising, more dueling, Jaden!"

The brunette grinned mischievously. "All right, if you say so, but you should know – I'm gonna win!"

Spade smirked confidently, somewhat encouraged by his boasting. "We'll see about that!"

The two duelists activated their duel disks and inserted their decks into the proper slot. "Ready?" Jaden asked in an almost taunting manner.

"Oh, bring it on!" Spade responded.

"Duel!" they shouted in unison. (_Jaden LP: 4000. Spade LP: 4000)_

"Ladies first," Jaden said, extending his hand in a chivalrous gesture.

Lacey snickered, hanging back against a tree with Chumley and Syrus. "Oooh, Spade's not gonna like that~"

True to her friend's word, the white-haired girl suddenly didn't seem cheerful at all and narrowed her eyes. "Fine then," she grumbled. "Draw Phase." Spade took her initial five cards, then drew a sixth. She glanced down at her hand. Jellyfish, Dark Chimera, and Feral Imp were her only monsters, while her spells were Mountain, Dragon Treasure, and…oh, now _there_ was one she could use!

"I play the Spell card Goblin's Secret Remedy!" she shouted, holding the card up in the air. The duel disk showed the card in an enlarged form, the image of green leaves with dew dotting them at the center of the card. "This gives me 600 more life points at no cost to me!" (_Spade LP: 4600_)

Jaden visibly twitched. He hadn't expected a move like that.

"But I'm not finished yet!" she added, taking another card out. "I place down one face-down card, and summon my old friend Jellyfish!" A big blue jellyfish materialized on the field, happily floating in midair. (_ATK: 1200/DEF: 1100_) "Since it's the first turn, I can't attack. So that will be all from me."

Jaden nodded. "Nice move…But now it's _my_ turn!" he shouted, drawing a card from his Duel Disk. "All right, I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, in attack mode!" He placed the card on his Duel Disk, and on the field, a slender, white-skinned woman with black hair and tight red clothing appeared on the field, gold eyes glinting with anticipation of battle. A great golden crest rested on top her head, long black hair ending in silver points flowing behind her. (_ATK: 1200/DEF: 800_) "Then I'll activate the Field Spell Skyscraper!" Jaden placed the green card into the slot, and the field morphed into a generic city, tall, dark skyscrapers rising around the duelists and their monsters.

"What is this, Gotham City?" Spade asked, both curious and taunting at the same time.

"Not quite," Jaden retorted, "but it'll boost the Attack Points of any monster with 'Elemental Hero' in its name by one thousand during damage calculation." He smirked confidently. "Your move."

Spade bit her lip. That would be tough to beat. Really tough. She looked over her shoulder. "Ace, now would be a really good time to give me that best-friend-you-can-do-anything pep talk."

"Gotham!" her friend squealed happily. "Batman~ Danananananana, BATMAAAN~"

Spade sighed. "I shouldn't have said a word about Gotham City…" She sighed and hovered over her deck. "Well…Let's keep on truckin'." She drew a card from her deck. "Oh, this could be useful…"

Unbeknownst to the duelists, lurking in the trees just ahead of them, a being clad in gray leaned against one of the great trunks in an almost casual manner. The person licked their lips lazily gazing at the group of blissfully unaware teenagers, perhaps too lazily. A twig snapped beneath his feet, causing the short blue-haired boy to turn his head.

"Hey, guys?" he asked warily and loudly over the roars of the holographic monsters. "Is someone watching us?"

"What?" Jaden asked, turning his head.

A chill went through the man's spine, and he turned and fled, his gray robes quickly disappearing into the forest.

"Dude, what was that?" Spade asked, scared. She deactivated her Duel Disk immediately and ran closer to Lacey.

"I don't know…" Jaden asked before turning around. "Wha- Hey! You turned off your Duel Disk!"

"Well, duh!" the white-haired girl replied, clutching her blonde friend, hiding behind her in what they liked to call the "Human Meat Shield Position." "Freakin' Pedobear over there could be a psycho murderer!"

"Pedobear? You mean Chumley?" Syrus asked, but the severity of the moment didn't allow for any laughter.

"This isn't good," Lacey said, placing a hand over her friend's tiny fist. "We should probably get to our dorms and report it first thing in the morning."

"Shouldn't we report it now?" Chumley asked, one hand shoved in his pocket.

"No, the office is closed now, so nothing we put in'll go through." Lacey flipped open her PDA and glanced at the clock that layered over the Duel Academy logo. "We should probably get to bed anyway, it's almost curfew." Closing it and putting it back in that same magical pocket that Spade kept her deck, she turned to her trembling friend. "Come on, let's keep you from having a nervous breakdown, Spade."

"Yes. Very yes," Spade replied, suddenly running off towards the dorm.

"Wha-Spade!" Lacey tore off after her, catching up quickly. "Idiot, running by yourself is going to get you killed!" was the last thing the boys heard before the girls disappeared into their dorm room.

"…Well, that was weird," Jaden remarked, scratching the back of his head.

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**Yes it was, Jaden. It was very weird.**

**Well? Did you like it, hate it? Let us know in a review :'3**

**~Winty  
**


	5. Beach Phase

**Hello again! Another chapter done by the lovely Guardian Soul :) It's much better than the last chapter, believe me x3 We hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Really. Really?**

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"I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee, won't my mommy be so proud of, I'm bringing home a baby bumble b-"

"Ace!" The blonde in question ceased rummaging through her book bag and snapped her attention to her companion.

"Yes?" she said innocently.

"That song," Spade replied through gritted teeth. Lacey narrowed her eyes, throwing the only treasure of her hunt- a broken pencil- at her friend. "Ow!"

"That's what you get for dissing my singing," Lacey said, sticking her tongue out for added effect. Spade playfully slapped her arm as they walked.

"It wasn't your _singing_, Ace, it was that stupid _song_!"

"What do you have against baby bumble bees?"

"Oh, come on," Spade said. She poked Lacey's bag. "Weren't you looking for something?"

"Yeah, my pen," Lacey replied as she latched her bag closed. "It's a lost cause. It's gone."

She hung her head sadly, folding her arms over her chest. Spade couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Ace, there are other pens in the world, you know," she said.

"Yeah, but that was my favorite one!" The path under their feet turned to sand as they came onto the beach. Almost as soon as she smelled the water, Spade had swung her backpack towards the front of her body and fished out her sunscreen. She threw the strap back over her shoulder as she squeezed a glob of the lotion into her palm.

"You stole it from me," Spade reminded. Lacey opened her mouth to say something, then shut it, biting her lip.

"Yeah…Well…It wrote really well, ok?"

The girls dropped their things on the beach. Spade sat cross legged on the sand, continuing to cover her skin with the sun block. Lacey dug a small towel out of her bag, throwing it onto the ground and laying down on her stomach. The moment she closed her eyes something hard hit her side.

"Ow!" she squealed, squirming onto her side and glaring up at Spade.

"Put the sunscreen on," Spade said without even looking at her. Lacey glared for a moment longer, than shook her head. She pushed herself up and sat cross-legged on her towel. She let a dime-sized drop of the sun block fall into her hand. "More."

"Sun-protection Nazi," Lacey murmured.

"Do you want skin cancer?" Spade retorted. Lacey stuck her tongue out at Spade for the second time that afternoon before squeezing more lotion into her palm and handing the bottle back to Spade. She then started fumbling through her bag again, producing from it a Basic Dueling 101 text book, a spiral notebook, a pink highlighter and a small package of gummy worms. "Dude, where'd you get those?"

"The worms?"

"No, I desperately want a pink highlighter. Yes, the worms!" Lacey smiled as she tore a small slit at the top of plastic bag.

"Care package from home," she explained. She took a gummy worm and held the bag out for her friend. "Want one?"

"Sugar!" Spade squealed, throwing her hand out and tearing not one but three pieces of candy from the bag. Lacey was ready to comment on her friend's actions, but a familiar voice calling "Hey, guys!" quickly distracted her. Both girls glanced up to see Atticus making their way towards them, a surf board tucked under his arm.

"Hi," Spade replied, but her simple greeting was lost under Lacey's loudly shouted question, "You surf?"

"Yeah," Atticus said with the broadest grin either girl had ever seen. He combed his fingers through his wet hair and pushed the board into the sand. "You guys?"

"No way," Lacey replied. "I'm just here for the sun."

"And I'm here because she dragged me," Spade added, pointing accusingly at her companion. Lacey nodded.

"True story," she admitted.

"Hey, Ace," Spade poked the other girl's shoulder. "Now that you're not all 'lonely and pathetic', can I, you know, leave? The sun and I, we're not exactly the best of friends."

"Yeah, I guess," Lacey replied with a shrug. "If Atticus doesn't mind staying?"

The final sentence was presented more as a question as she raised her eyebrow at the upperclassman. Atticus plopped down on the sand, Lacey shifting a little bit so that there was room on her towel for him to sit.

"I've got nowhere else to be," he said.

"Sweet!" Spade sprang to her feet, tossing her backpack over her shoulder with such force she almost fell backwards. "See you at the dorms, Ace!" she said. Lacey waved to her and then turned to Atticus, offering him candy.

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Although it was a rather warm and bright day for the newly arrived season of fall, the lush forest of Duel Academy Island's forest immersed anyone who happened to wander inside in utter darkness. The canopy of leaves had a cooling effect on the land below. At least, it did, until the lace-like leaves started to turn to ash, falling like black rain to the forest bed.

"They spotted you!"

"Yes." The voice was small, dropped like a pebble onto the ground.

"How could you let this happen?"

"Sir, please, it was only a group of kids."

"Kids get spooked," the first voice hissed.

"I was but a shadow to them, Master," the second replied softly.

"A shadow that moved. A shadow that breathed."

"But a shadow nonetheless, Master."

"Fool!" A murder of crows rose into the air, a black cloud staining the sky. "Who knows who they could have told! Anyone could be looking for us now!"

"Master, please."

"Go."

"Please."

"Get out of my sight." There was a tension in the air, pulling tighter and tighter until the lowly figure raised its head to its master.

"As you wish." Footsteps, footsteps….And then the calmness of the day took over again.

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Lacey burst into the Slifer cafeteria a mere minute after dinner had been served. She found Spade seated with what she now considered their usual group towards the front of the room and quickly slid into the seat beside Spade.

"How late am I?" she asked, kicking her bag under the table and pulling headphones out of her ears.

"One minute and fifteen seconds," Spade replied after briefly checking her watch. She pushed a small bowl of food to her friend. "I grabbed you some food."

"Have I ever mentioned that you're the best person ever?" Lacey asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the best," Spade replied. She then caught a glimpse of the device Lacey was shoving into a small pocket on the side of her book bag. "That doesn't look like your iPod."

"That's because it's Atticus'. He has mine." Spade raised her eyebrows. "We're reviewing each other's music."

"Right," Spade replied.

"So," Jaden interjected.

"Oh," Lacey said. She lifted her chopsticks off the table and started twirling noodles around them. "Hey, everyone."

"Hi," Syrus, Jaden and Chumley greeted in unison, while Chazz gave a slight grunt to acknowledge the presence of the most recent arrival. The friends dug into their meal quickly, Jaden and Chumley making large dents in theirs in an impressive 2.2 seconds. Idle chit-chat floated between them until Spade finally decided to toss out the big topic.

"So did anyone find out anything about the whole creeper in the woods incident last night?" she asked.

"Nothing yet," Syrus said quietly.

"We told Banner earlier, he said he'd tell Chancellor Sheppard," Jaden added. Spade nodded.

"Good," she said. "'Cause I really don't think we need anyone creepin' around here."

"Yeah, really, aren't there enough of those out there already?" Lacey said, earning a laugh from a few of her friends.

"Oh!" Spade gasped. "Speaking of the Chancellor!"

"What?" Jaden asked. She had everyone's attention as she started rooting through her pockets.

"Aha!" she exclaimed, pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper. "This was posted on our door, Ace. It's for you."

"Uh-oh," Lacey said as the paper was pushed into her hand. "What awful deed did they catch me in?"

"Um…what did you do?" Jaden asked. Spade waved him off.

"She's kidding. At least, I think she is. I don't it's anything bad," she said. Lacey glanced at her before gingerly peeling open the letter. She read it slowly, as though she had to make out ever word.

"Well?" Syrus urged.

"What does it say?" asked Chumley.

"Lacey Holker, after reviewing your progress here at Duel Academy, it is my pleasure to inform you that you have been chosen to test to move up in the dormitory ranks," Lacey read.

"Wow, that's awesome!" Jaden said, throwing his arms up in excitement.

"Yeah, really cool!" Syrus added.

"Totally licious," Chumely said in agreement.

"It's cool, I guess," Chazz said absently. Lacey smiled at all of them in turn, and then turned to her best friend. Spade didn't waste any time in gathering the other girl into a huge, bone-crushing hug.

"My little Ace is growing up!" she shouted. Lacey squirmed in her grip.

"Uh, Spade?" she said.

"I'm not done!" Spade told her, tightening her grip and swaying side to side.

"Spade!"

"Ok, ok!" Spade let the blonde go, ignoring her friend's coughs. "People get so touchy when therr airways are crushed…"

"I wonder why," Chazz quipped. Spade shot him a glare, called him a meanie, and then turned back to Lacey.

"So when's this test?" she asked. Lacey looked over the letter again.

"Two weeks," she announced. Her eyes narrowed and she read back over it again. "Woah, wait, two weeks…"

"That's great!" Spade said. "It'll give you plenty of time to prepare!"

"Yeah," Lacey said, nodded and trying to agree. "Two weeks," she repeated.

"You'll do fine," Syrus encouraged. "Better than me, at least."

"I just can't wait to see you duel!" Jaden said.

* * *

Later that night, when most of the Slifer Red students had already drifted off to sleep, Lacey lay awake in her bunk. She had headphones plugged into her ears and was scrolling through the lists of artists on Atticus' iPod without really seeing any of the words that passed by. Chancellor Sheppard's letter lay on the desk across from the beds, and now and again the girl would find her gaze drawn to it. Sighing heavily, she pulled one ear bud out and kicked the bunk above her.

"Spade?" she said, hushed. "You awake?"

The springs of the upper mattress squeaked as Spade rolled over. Lacey could hear her friend mumbling something under her breath.

"Spade?"

"No, not the cupcakes," Spade murmured. Lacey kicked the top bunk again.

"Spade," she hissed.

"No, mommy, the sharks don't play hopscotch…"

Lacey sighed again as she replaced the ear bud into her ear. She slid the still-playing iPod underneath her pillow as she rolled onto her side, closing her eyes in a final attempt at sleep.

* * *

**Dun dun dunn! Evilness! :'D Did you like it? Hate it? Let us know in a review!**

**~Winty  
**


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